Skylight.



nu. 635,052. Patented oct. I7, laas.`

l H. J. MURAT.

SKF/LIGHT. (Appueation med may 11,' 189s.)

harman mns co.. wmumom'wunmqfon. D. C.

n'r trice.

HENRI JOACHIM MURAT, OF PARIS, FRANCE;

SKYLIGHT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Lettere Patent Ne. 635,052, dated oeteber 17, 189e. Appneesen nea Mey 11,1898. serai-N0. 680,363. (no model.)

To a/ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRI JOACHIM MURAT, contractor,a citizen of the Republic of France, and a resident of 36 Rue de Lvis, Paris, France, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Skylights, of which the following is a specification.

The objects of this invention are to do away with the use of putty for the binding of the glass sheets to the ribs by which they are vsupported and to secure such a thorough connection of the said sheets that it will be impossible for the water to pass through the joints.

Joints of glass sheets without the use of putty have already been made. It therefore is necessaryin order that my in vention be Well understood that I give first a short relation of the state of the art previous to my invention, and thereafter I shall describe the improvements which form the object of my invention.

I-Ieretofore when joints of glass sheets have been made in skylights Without the use of putty the sheets were placed on small metal ribs consisting of a center bar with two wings, the latterforminga sort of a gutteron each side of the said bar, these gutters being destined to receive and leadaway the water vfallin g on the glass sheets. On top of the ribs is placed an elastic cover or saddle having the .shape of a reversed V. These covers are fastened on the said ribs by means of clasps, which press the elastic standards of the cover on the glass sheets. If those covers or saddles are not of elastic material, elastic bands are placed between thern and the glass. This system, however Well it may be executed, never secures a perfectly stanch skylight, and a certain part of the water falling on the same always succeeds in passing through the joints and, fiowing along the inner surface ofthe glass sheets, finally drops into the building. The aim of my invention is to avoid this inconvenience. I attain this by providing protruding ribs along the borders of the glass sheets, which ribs, combined with the support bearing the glass sheets and other accessories to be described hereinafter, form a method of making skylights which are absolutely water-tight.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure lis a sectional side View of a skylight-joint einsaid longitudinal joint.

bodying my invention; Fig. 2, a plan corresponding with Fig. I; Fig. 3, a transverse sectionin the line 3 3 of Fig. l; Fig. 4, a transverse section in the line fi 4 of'Fig. I; Fig. 5, a perspective view of the joint partly completed. Fig. 6 shows one of the clasps used in the joint before itis bent. Fig. 7 shows the same clasp when bent. Fig. 8 is a perspective View showing the covering of a longitudinal joint. Fig. 9 is a plan view of a band destined to secure the tightness of the Fig. 10 is aperspective view of one of the clasps which hold the said bands in place, determining at the same time the degree of lap of the glass plates in Said joint.

Similar letters referto similar parts throughout the several views.

The supports or bearings a, consisting of a center bar with two wings, constitute the framework of the skylight. They may be made of steel, iron, or any other suitable metal. When seen in a vertical cross-section, they lhave the shape of a reversed T with the ends of its cross-bar bent upward, as shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 5. In this Way a gutter is 'formed on each side of the center bar of the support below the glass plates e, which rest on the upward-bent wings of' the support a, as shown in the iigures just mentioned. These gutters are destined to receive and carry off the water which may pass through the joint in case of the joint-cover getting leaky. It is, however, a matter of -course that the shape of the said supports may be slightly varied-for instance, by combining two or more iron bars of current commercial forms to a shape answering the same purpose. Such aV change of shape would not constitute a departure from the fundamental idea of the invention.

The glass plates or sheets e represented have on their surface in certain intervals protruding ribs e', running parallel with'the supports a. lVhen the glass plates are to be litted in the frame of the skylight, they are cut, in such width as desired, along the proe truding rib, but so as to leave a narrow band between the edge for the joint and the rib e', as illustrated in Figs. 3, et, and 5. Now it is easy to be seen that when water should succeed in leaking through between the edge IOO shape shown in Fig. 6.

of the j oint-cover b and the glass plate e it is prevented by the rib e from getting into the joint.

The joint-covers Z9 are bands of zinc, sheetiron, lead, or any other suitable material, bent in such a manner that when placed on the top of the lsupport d they form a roof over the joint, as illnfstrratedin Figgsja, 4, and 5. Their form may be variedacoiding to the shape of the support. Thesejoint-covers are perforated in their crowns at determined distances for the passage of clasps c, as shown at b* in Figs. l, 2, and 3.

The clasps c (illustrated in Figs. l, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7, and made of copper, Zinc, sheetiron, or any other suitable metal) have the Before being placed they are bent in the form of a U, as illustrated in Eig.l 7. The4 supports a are provided with holes or openings d', corresponding with the perforations b* in the jointcovers l). Before the latter are placed the clasps c are passed through the openings a of the supports a. Fig. 5 shows such a clasp in place and ready to receive the joint-cover.

When all the clasps care placed in the manner described, the joint-cover b is put on by passing the ends of the clasps c through the respective perforations t* of the cover. Thereafter the cover is pressed down upon the glass plates and the ends of the clasps are bent down in such a way that the right end of the clasp is bent over to the left side of the cover and the left end of the clasp to the right side of the cover, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. In this manner a solid ligature is obtained, whereby the joint-cover is not only thoroughly fastened to the support a, but also its edges pressed on the glass plates e, so as to secure throughout a perfect contact between them and the glass plates.

In order to insure against the glass plates being lifted and torn off by the wind, the structure is strengthened by a second series of clasps d, consisting of straight strips of metal also passed through openings a2, provided in the center bar of the support ct and bent down on the ribs e' of the glass plates e, as illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5. Copper, Zinc, or sheet-iron are suit-able metals for the making of these clasps.

If it be desirable, the skylight may be so arranged that its surface be composed of glass plates alternating with plates of zinc, sheetiron, prepared cardboard, or of any other suitable opacous material without changing my method of construction.

In order to make the joint still lighter,

strips or bands 7c, made of felt, cork, or any other suitable material, may be placed in the joint, as shown in Figs. l, 3, ande.

The horizontal jointsare tightened in the manner illustrated in Fig. 8. Bands or strips h, of felt, agglomerated cork, or any'other suitable material, are used for this purpose. These bands re'st in a case t', of zinc or other suitable metal, which case, being shaped like a U, is open on one side, where the elastic band protrudes in the way shown in Figs. 8 and 9. The said bands are fastened to the two glass plates to be bound together by means of hooks j, shaped as shown in Fig. l0. These hooks, made of zinc, copper, galvanized iron, or steel, may be slightly corrugated in order to increase their resisting power. They grasp the two glass plates to be bound together in the way shown in Fig. 8, -whereby the band h t' is also fastened between the two glass sheets. The hooks j are always placed at the ends of the elastic bands h t'. In order that the humidity collecting and condensing on the inner surface of the glass plates may ind al way to escape to the outside, the bands h t' have in the middle of their elastic material a discontinuity t', forming a passage for the escaping humidity.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination of the glass plates e, the supports a consisting of central bars and guttered wings, the joint-covers b overlying the supports a and the edges of the glass plates, the clasps c passing through the supports a and joint-covers b, and the clasps d passing through openings in the supports and pressing upon the plates, all substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

2. The Vcombination with skylight-plates having overlapping edges, of an interposed joint-strip composed of a channeled strip of metal and a strip of soft packing material partly incased in the channel thereof, and a hookj engaging with the edges of the two plates for retaining the said joint-strip between them,substantially as herein described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name, in presence of two witnesses, this 29th day of April, 1898.

HENRI JOACHIM MURAT.

Witnesses:

EDWARD P. MACLEAN, ALCIDE FABE.

IOO 

